


this stubborn thing called the human condition (TYRELLIOT)

by jocalvins



Series: Tyrelliot One Shot Collection [2]
Category: Mr. Robot (TV)
Genre: AU!Tyrell with OG!Elliot, Alternate Universe, Comfort/Angst, Established Relationship, Fluff, Gay, Light Angst, M/M, Mr Robot 411, Mr Robot Season 4, No Smut, OS, One Shot, Tyrell and Elliot, Writing, tyrelliot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-20
Updated: 2019-12-20
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:20:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,278
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21865867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jocalvins/pseuds/jocalvins
Summary: One Shot where the Elliot we know and love is dating the Tyrell from the AU in episode 411!At the same time this is my tribute to Mr Robot as a show, Tyrelliot as the best ship on earth, and Sam Esmail as my idol when it comes to writing.The title of this fic is brought to you by Panic! at the Disco Corp, factory of unnecessarily long titles.
Relationships: Elliot Alderson & Tyrell Wellick, Elliot Alderson/Tyrell Wellick
Series: Tyrelliot One Shot Collection [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1392523
Comments: 16
Kudos: 83





	this stubborn thing called the human condition (TYRELLIOT)

**Author's Note:**

> CN TRAUMA (not described or further specified, but physical reactions to trauma are mentioned and y'all know what happened to Elliot anyway. take care.)

_“I hate people”_ , Elliot typed, his fingers flying over the keyboard, _“I'm scared of them. I've been scared of them practically my whole life. People I loved, people I trusted have done their absolute worst to me. And for a long time that's all I ever knew._ ”

He stopped typing for a second, stretching his finger, looking over what he had just written, frowning. Maybe he was being to dramatic today, going beyond what he was aiming for. But it felt right. The words were just flowing, without him having to question every single phrase. And that was what writing was supposed to be like, wasn't it?

_"You know what? Fuck society.”_

He smiled as he pressed the keys, watching the words come together on the screen. Building their own universe. Becoming something only he, Elliot, could have created. That's not what his life felt like, most of the time. There was no control there, no creativity either.

About a year ago, he had found this outlet. He had started writing again. A forgotten passion from his childhood, returning because of the second, even bigger passion in his life.

_"But then... there are some people out there. And it doesn't happen a lot, it's rare.”_

A smile appeared on his face, as he remembered the first time he met him. Price had announced a big presentation on the following day, and Elliot had only listened with half an ear. As a tech, he wasn't concerned with this kind of stuff anyway. He looked up from his work for a second, when he heard the CEO of this new emerging company – f corp – walk in, and all of a sudden... he couldn't keep his eyes off him.

Tyrell Wellick wasn't what anyone would imagine a business man to look like. He didn't seem like he cared about his looks at all, but he was exactly the kind of guy who could pull of not caring and still be attractive. Elliot hated that. The audacity this man had, to just show up at his work and make his stomach spin, his heart race, his lips curl upwards! Love was the last thing Elliot needed in his life right now, he had never understood it anyway. People made a way too big deal out of it – like they had always been, they had been for centuries. So Elliot accepted it as part of this stubborn, predetermined thing called human condition.

Not him though, nope, never. Well - at least not until that day. Tyrell didn't talk to him, and Elliot didn't talk to Tyrell. The only interaction they had until lunch break consisted of Tyrell smiling awkwardly, his cheeks scrunching up and pushing his nerd glasses further up his nose. Elliot quickly pretended to be doing something very important on his computer. Sadly, it didn't stop Tyrell to walking up to Elliot's desk.

It had taken him all of his strength, Tyrell told him months later, when his hands on Elliot's cheeks, his nerd glasses moving again.

'Hello. I'm uh...Tyrell Wellick?'

'Is that a question?' No need to become too friendly with this guy.

'No, I'm pretty sure that's my name.' Awkward laughter. A shrug. A helpless gesture.

'Well, I'm Elliot', said Elliot. What a weirdo. He wasn't even that attractive with his stupid hoodie jacket. Yes, duh, Elliot wore hoodie jackets too, but HE wasn't allowed to wear them at work, while this Tyler guy was the CEO and could do whatever he wanted. That really wasn't fair, Elliot found.

'I'm looking forward to working with you Elliot.' He smiled, a shy, innocent smile. Elliot didn't reciprocate it. But he couldn't help but notice the stubble covering Tyrell's cheeks, ironically giving him such a soft, pure look... Elliot wondered what it would feel like on his skin.

And so they did talk. One of them shy, careful, but excited, the other one reserved, trying to ignore how his heart was beating at the speed of light.

 _“They refuse to let you hate them. In fact, they care about you in spite of it”,_ Elliot typed. He hadn't made it easy for Tyrell. Letting him get his hopes up just to let him down again, completely burning all the bridges when things got to comfortable.

Even the day they officially got together started by Elliot running away from him. He got upset over something Tyrell had said, something so minor he didn't even remember now, now while he was writing. Back home, he regretted everything. But he was sure it was too late, nothing left for him to do and convince Tyrell to take him back.

_"The really special ones, like him, they're relentless at it. They care about you anyway. They don't abandon you, no matter how many reasons you give them. No matter how much you're practically begging them to leave.”_

Tyrell came to visit him later that evening, for no reason, just because. Just because he knew that Elliot was scared, and it didn't stop him from caring.

'If you want this, and I want this, we're gonna make this work. Okay?', Tyrell had said. 'I don't care how many times you chicken out. We can do this.'

And if he had to name a day, it would have to be that one - that day, Elliot started loving him; With all of his heart, with every inch of his body, no more holding back, no more strings attached. Right there, in his arms, he promised himself to never do anything that would hurt Tyrell, ever again – and just love him. Of course it never works like that – but at least that day he gave up on trying to search for ways to sabotage his own happiness.

_“Do you wanna know why? Because he feels something for me that I can't. He loves me.”_

Elliot still remembered the first I-love-you like it was burned inside his mind – the look on Tyrell's face when he said it, the unspoken but familiar fear that he might not say it back. But he did, oh he did, hundreds of times since then. Every night before they went to sleep, every morning when Tyrell, who was a real morning person, was already running and dancing around the house, or making breakfast for them. Every time one of them started doubting their own abilities, their own success - they knew that the other would never.

And it wasn't just the words itself, sometimes it spoke for itself how Elliot listened to Tyrell talk for hours - about a book he read, or a documentary he had seen, or something else Elliot couldn't care less about. Somehow it mattered, because it mattered to Tyrell. The other way around, he knew he could talk about movies all he wanted, and Tyrell would listen, or maybe just count the colors in his boyfriend's eyes and pretend to listen.

_"And after all the pain that I've been through – that heals me. Maybe not instantly, maybe not even for a long time, but it heals.”_

The first time Tyrell stayed the night over at Elliot's place, Elliot was terrified. He had thought that maybe the fact that it was his own home, his safe space, would somehow make it easier – but it didn't. He knew what was gonna happen that night, and a part of him wanted it to happen, but another part didn't. Before Tyrell got there, Elliot stood in the bathroom for hours, contemplating whether it would be better to get high or drunk first, and it took him all his strength not to do either one.

In the end, he didn't have to, because he was dissociating so bad, he didn't even feel like it was really happening.

'I don't think I can do this', he said to Tyrell, the tears already falling, his heart racing, as he finally told him the truth. It wasn't easy. It was the hardest thing he ever had to do. But once it was out there, it wasn't locked up inside his chest anymore, the itching in his stomach felt a bit less intense, the fog in his mind cleared up a bit.

Nothing else happened that night, but Elliot fell asleep in Tyrell's arms, cuddled up against his soft chest, the sound of his breath calming him. 'It's okay', he heard Tyrell say before he finally dozed off to sleep. 'You are safe here.'

 _“And yeah”_ , Elliot kept typing. _“There are setbacks. We hurt each other, and it gets messy. We were always told we don't stand a chance, and yet we stand._ ”

Elliot knew his friends didn't understand what he saw in Tyrell, and Tyrell's friends didn't realize why Elliot was so special to Tyrell. But somehow that never mattered. They knew that with every day they stayed together, and every Christmas dinner when Tyrell was the only Wellick who looked like he was actually happy, they'd prove them wrong.

But Elliot wasn't waiting for the day Tyrell's family finally accepted him, he was only waiting for the day when he would kiss Tyrell at the altar, his glasses moving from smiling so wide, his hair falling in his face as always, just like the day they first met. And everything would be perfect, just for a moment.

_"So no, I will not give up on this world. Most importantly, I will not give up on him. We're not perfect, we're not the kind of people who fell head over heels for each other the moment we met. We work hard to keep this, every single day. Because we know what we have is delicate, and we know it's worth it. We have a connection that no one can deny, and I love him more than I ever thought I could love anyone.”_

***

'What are you writing?' All of a sudden, Elliot felt two arms wrapping around him from behind, a scratchy cheek pressing against his.

'Still the … thing I was writing yesterday', Elliot answered vaguely. Talking about his novel made him uncomfortable, but he still appreciated his boyfriend's support immensely.

'Sounds like it might be a bit autobiographical', Tyrell joked after skimming a few sentences.

'It sure is.' He smiled. 'I guess you inspire me a little.'

'Well, then I already love it.' He buried his face in the crook of Elliot's neck, because the one thing more interesting than his boyfriend's words might just have to be his body.

'It's not really _us_ , though”, Elliot continued. 'It's like... an alternate universe, ya know? And our lives are super exciting, we actually get to change something in the world. You know... those assholes who own most of the world's money, the top one percent of the top one percent? Those guys who get to play god without permission from anyone else?'

'Mh-m.' Squinting his eyes, Tyrell raised his head and looked back up at the screen. 'So I'm gonna assume you kick their asses.'

'That's the plan.' Elliot's eyes lit up in excitement. 'So finally my hacking knowledge is good for something.'

'Oh, that reminds me of something.' Tyrell moved back and pulled out his phone, searching for something. After a few seconds he showed the screen to Elliot, the most dazzling smile on his face. 'I finally found a design for the F-Corp logo that I like. Look, it's gay.'

He chuckled, while Elliot inspected the drawing he was shown – the letter F, slightly tilted to the left, painted in rainbow colors.

'You're the only person I know who could get away with something like that', Elliot laughed, getting up from his chair. When he noticed the look on Tyrell's face, he reassured him: 'It's so pretty. I'm serious. You're not even gonna need a new design during pride month.'

Now smiling again, Tyrell wrapped his arms around him, lifting him up. He was quite broad and physically strong and Elliot was so small that he had already gotten used to Tyrell picking him up at the most random times.

'I was hoping you'd like it', Tyrell said. Their lips found each other, and for a while none of them said another word. Slowly, Tyrell pulled away and looked at Elliot, an undefinable expression in his eyes.

'Would you like to live there?' he asked. 'In that other universe, I mean. Where your story takes place.'

Taken aback by the question, Elliot frowned. 'I don't know. Sometimes I feel stuck in this boring routine that is my job, you know? And I do wish I could be someone else, someone more exciting, do something meaningful. But at the end of the day, I know I'm lucky to be where I am.'

'Well, that's good to know.' Tyrell smiled. 'You know, in case alternate universes ever become a thing.'

Elliot nodded. 'But you know what? It doesn't matter. I'd find you, in any universe. There's no point in doing anything exciting or menaingful if I can't tell you about it.'

They walked out of Elliot's office, like actors leaving the stage after finishing a play, their fingers interlocked, shoulder to shoulder. Elliot's laptop stayed were he left it, the document still open – for now, the real world was waiting for him.

And maybe, somewhere in the universe, his version of said reality was coming to life. Another business man walking into AllSafe, locking eyes with a tech across the room. He seemed to be exactly the kind of person who didn't care about anything. And still, there was a kind of chemistry between them no one could have denied. The start of something special, something inevitable.

I can see it crystal clear now.

Are you seeing it too, friend?

**Author's Note:**

> Give kudos and/or comment for extra karma points


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